SACRAMENTO — The plan was to scatter the ashes over the ocean, as their parents had wished — once Kaitlyn and Geena Cumbie were older and more mature, when they might be more emotionally ready to say goodbye.

Until then, the remains of Traci and William “Biff” Cumbie sat atop a dresser in the home shared by the couple’s two young girls, their uncle, John Cumbie, and his son, John.

The ashes were a source of comfort for Kaitlyn and Geena — now 14 and 12, respectively — as they struggled through a childhood without their parents.

A burglar who broke into the Cumbies’ Elverta home while they spent the holidays out of state stole about $10,000 in goods, John Cumbie estimates. But what the intruder stole from Kaitlyn and Geena can be given no dollar value.

“It’s irreplaceable,” Kaitlyn said of the ashes taken by the burglar. “It’s not of value to them. It’s only of value to us.”

Traci Cumbie died in August 2001 of an illness. Just a month later, her husband, Biff Cumbie, was killed in a car accident. Details of both deaths are hazy to Kaitlyn and Geena, who were so young at the time.

What they do remember was that their father was outgoing and goofy and loved rock-crawling along the Rubicon River in his Jeep. Their mother was quiet and had a passion for collecting angel statues, which were passed out among relatives upon her death.

Today, Kaitlyn is a spitting image of her father — but with her mother’s eyebrows, she insisted.

Geena, in turn, looks just like her mother, but with her father’s nose.

Traci Cumbie was cremated, her ashes placed in an urn. Their father’s ashes remained in the standard cardboard box issued by crematoriums, covered by a velvet bag.

The girls say they rarely, if ever, took the ashes down from their uncle’s dresser. Instead, they relished the feeling the remains created within the house.

If Kaitlyn and Geena had to suffer through their parents’ absence at important events — birthdays, eighth-grade graduation, the start of high school — at least they had some comfort at home.

“It was like they were there,” Kaitlyn said. “They were right there in our everyday lives.”

“It was the only part we still had of them,” said John Cumbie, 35.

That part is now sorely missed. The Cumbies drove to Arkansas on Dec. 20 to spend Christmas with relatives. A neighbor checked on the house on Dec. 24 and reported no problems.

But on Dec. 28, John Cumbie asked a friend to stop by the house to take care of something he had forgotten. The friend called to tell them the house had been burglarized.

Some electronic equipment had been taken, the friend reported, but the Cumbies would not learn the devastating news of the missing ashes until they returned in January.

“That never crossed my mind,” John Cumbie said. “It was just materialistic things that I thought of.”

The burglar — or burglars — apparently entered through a sliding glass door at the back of the house before making off with computer parts, DVDs and Christmas presents that the family had opened before leaving.

Geena lost a PlayStation. Kaitlyn lost perfume and makeup from friends. And 4-year-old John lost SpongeBob SquarePants bed sheets.

Together, they mourn the loss of Traci and Biff — for a second time.

The family hopes the burglar realizes what was taken and is either frightened or shamed into returning the ashes.

“That’s the only thing we care to have back,” John Cumbie said. “Everything else can be replaced.”

Until then, the Cumbies struggle with a range of emotions, ranging from sadness to anger to disbelief.